Shin Megami Tensei: Demon Huntsman
by Courier13
Summary: He walks through the dream of things to come, besides two heroes, one who brings Order, one who brings Freedom. With world shattering revelations, his old grandfather's present becomes far more than just an outdated, obsolete computer, becoming his and those around him's only chance of salvation in a world changing for the worse.


**AN: Ok, so I planned to finish the next chapter of Conviction, post that chapter, then this new story, but then I though "Screw it, might as well get this one posted 'fore I go home for the break". So... yeah.**

 **Thought this might be fun to write, hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Order is naught but fire,  
Ancient wishes of peace corrupted,  
True freedom death does sire,  
Where the strong see the weak tormented._

 _Is it the middle road that you seek?_  
 _Leave behind the words of law?_  
 _The greatness of our spirit you speak?_  
 _The lies of chaos you saw?_

 _Doest thou know the treachery?_  
 _The path lies quiet and unspoken._  
 _Doesn't thou know the butchery?_  
 _The road lies bloody and broken._

 _Glory be to you!_  
 _The child of man!_  
 _You see like so few!_  
 _Young child of man!_  
 _-Unknown_

 **Chapter 1: The COMP**

 _The pale, white corridors stretched infinitely into the distance, flashing like strobe lights all around the gray mass in the vague shape of a man. The shape looked about in a daze as he felt himself walk forward at an inhuman pace, twisting and turning down various corridors according to some arbitrary, unknown whim. As he neared the end of one of the corridors he found himself staring into the faceless visage of a tall blue entity, who appeared in a flash of light._

 _"You stand above the precipice, young child of man! The paths you chose will bring unto the world glory or ruin! You carry the strength to decide the fate of your world!"_

 _The entity disappeared into the air around the shape, and he continued, only to the right this time, walking to near the end of the hallway. A flash of lighting, despite the lack of thunder flashed before the shape and he found himself in a small field of golden grass. Rows of wheat surrounded the field, stretching on towards an endless horizon. The shape, hearing the sounds of breathing turned around to find a man in the robes of an unknown religion. Black stars and dots peppered his cloud white robes, as the man prostrated before a tall wooden pillar, his right arm tucked into his chest. Looking up the shape beheld a white figure, tied upside-down at the top of the pillar. Her arms hung downwards as of attempting to embrace the shape._

 _"This young woman is blessed by the Goddesses. She knoweth their words, and walks in the light of their glory! Hear her name, so that she might walk besides you!" The old man stood up and raised his hands towards the woman!_

 _The pillar standing before the shape disappeared along with the priest. The endless fields of wheat surrounding the two suddenly reduced in height, as if the entire field had been sowed in an instance. The figure took the form of a young redheaded woman and looked upon the shape with an earnest, tender smile, as if she were staring at a returning lover. She opened her arms wide, her featureless bright form displayed for him to see._

 _"I am Pyrrha Nikos, she who will bring peace to this realm" She said, in a choir of voices. "Together, we shall bask in the light of better world."_

 _She disappeared, reappearing just behind the shape who remained still despite the events that took place in front of him. The shape did not look behind himself, instead only noticing her presence through something not unlike the feeling of vibration in water. The shape watched as the field burned away to reveal the pale corridor once again, and once again noticed himself move without consent. The two dashed through the hall without slowing once, despite making numerous turns into perpendicular hallways. Down one hallway they began to walk down lied a room, the entryway covered in darkness. The shape felt as though the room held someone or something he needed to find and he grit his teeth in pain as he felt an ice cold sensation move up his spine. The female shape behind him hummed without care, as they hit the middle point between where they began down the hallway and the dark room._

 _A fire burned down the entire hallway and the two shapes found themselves at the center of a burning crater, dotted with the remains of ancient buildings, jutting out like gravestones. The two shapes turned around, compelled by an outside force. Before them a dark figure, similar in shape to their own, limply hung against an upright gray wall. Two chains tugged his arms upward towards the sky raging at the unjustness of his imprisonment. A faunus stood next to him, wearing a uniform of black and white, a red image of a wolf's head printed on its back. On the faunus's face lay a large mask in the shape of a grimm's skull. He spat at the chained man before turning towards the two figures._

 _"This boy yearns and bleeds for the strength to change his world. He fights endlessly for no other reason than his own personal desires! Hear his name so that he might show you true freedom!"_

 _The faunus in the grimm mask disappeared as did the chains that held the figure. Around the crater the steel remains sunk into the charred, blasted earth, letting loose a cacophony of sound not unlike the roar of a dozen engines. The chained man groaned as he pushed himself into a kneeling position, before standing upright. The darkish figure quickly took the form of a broad shouldered youth with short slicked back orange hair and sharp indigo eyes._

 _"I'm Cardin Winchester; my name will be written in the foundation of this world," he said in a mob of angry voices. "You'd do well to remember it!"_

 _Once again the figure disappeared, and the first shape felt his presence behind him. This time, it felt like hot air rushing to meet him from a raging inferno. The world melted around them and once again they found themselves amongst the strange strobe light hallways. Rushing forth at a speed even faster than before they turned to the left, not daring enter the door at the end of the hallway. As the first shape began to feel himself yearning for the door, the sounds of people hitting the ground in front of him garnered his attention._

 _A dozen pale shapes, each different in size, shape and color came into focus. A rainbow of colors, the shapes stood in various poses in front of the group of three as the blue figure from earlier appeared before them all. They all stared at the giant figure, who, despite having no face, seemed to grin happily at the shapes._

 _"No one truly travels alone, child of man. Those you find before you will walk aside you, sharing your glories and burdens alike."_

 _With that said the figures before the trio disappeared in a bright flash, leaving naught but an empty, flashing corridor before them. The trio rushed once again down the hallway, passing by countless, empty dark rooms. However, none of the rooms beckoned the shape like that of the first room, it's dark entryway still calling for the shape to enter, as if begging, or demanding that he enter into the room. He wished deeply to turn back, and behold the wonders that laid within the dark room._

 _Like countless times before the group turned at sharp right triangles, this time making three sharp right turns to enter a completely new hallway, which, by all reckoning, should not exist in a universe governed by reality. They sped down a hallway, even more endless than the ones they flew through before. After what felt like an eternity of running, the trio approached the same dark room as earlier, causing the lead shape to feel both elation and trepidation simultaneously. As they neared the room a figure came from the left hallway, though far slower than the trio._

 _The figure before them didn't stand so much as he sat, rotating his electric wheelchair to face the now still figures. The grey haired man, far more defined than the others they encountered, wore a bright red business suit, with a white formal shirt and black tie just under it. He clasped his hands over his stomach and gave them an honest smile, though his eyes hid underneath fog tinted glasses._

 _"Greetings." The man said in a clear voice. "Do not worry about any pleasantries, we will be properly introduced soon enough. Just as your father and grandfather have, young man, I present to you a gift. When you wake, you will find it within the confines of the device your grandfather has given you." The man's chair, despite no input from the man, rolled towards the group, and the shape could clearly see that the man's smile slightly droop. "In the coming days, the lives of both you and those around you will depend on the decisions you make. Remember, there is always a choice."_

 _With that the man turned around and his wheelchair rolled to the intersection of the two hallways. As the wheelchair turned around the man gave the front shape one last look, this time with smile tinged with both pride and regret. With that he rolled out of sight and the trio entered the room before them, the front figure's anticipation eating away at his chest like a beowolf._

 _In the room stood a single stone slab, with leather belts tied on both ends, as well as a large one going over the middle. Half a dozen robed men stood around the slab, their cloaks lit only by the dim candelabras that burned away on the edges of the room. Their chanting droned on and filled the head of the shape, and his partners' as well, judging by their pained groans. In the center of the chanting, bound to the slab of stone, lay yet another unconscious form. The shape felt an intrinsic connection to the figure and reached out for them, as the chanting grew louder. For the first time in the dream, the shape moved forward towards the form of his own free will. Just as his hand reached them a blaring crash sounded throughout the room, and the sound of a distant car horn filled the ears of the shape-_

* * *

Jaune Arc woke with a start, sitting upright in the dark room, with only the sliver of orange light coming in between the gap in the curtains giving him any awareness of the room's layout. Standing up he stretched and yawned slightly before looking at the alarm clock next to the hard, sterile bed of the Valian hotel room. He grimaced and groaned as he read the electronic numbers, tilting his head as the comprehension of waking up four hours early dawned on him.

Walking towards the window of the sparsely decorated room, and only narrowly avoiding hitting his lower leg against the low, glass table, he yawned and considered the sound that woke him from the surreal dream he had woken from. He clenched his eyes shut as the dim amber street lights blinded him temporarily, before blinking against the bright light. Looking down at the street he sighed as some man began to yell in the direction of an alleyway, angrily pointing at something beyond the shadows of the two buildings. He walked over towards another man, while stumbling back and forth in a drunken stupor. Near the hotel lay the wreckage of a ten year old car, wrapped around a streetlight. Why the man decided to drive drunk at four in the morning was beyond the blond to-be huntsman in training.

Closing the curtains, Jaune sighed as he went about the room, cursing once as he slammed his foot once again into the glass table. Flipping on the lights of the room he looked about himself and began to gather up a couple of the relatively few belongings he brought with him from the family homestead. He grimaced as he again realized he wouldn't see his family for a long time, before taking on a panicked expression. He shook his head back and forth, banishing the doubts in his mind.

He put on his favorite hoodie, the bunny on the front making him relax and smile serenely for a moment, causing him to grow quiet. Unzipping the large travel suitcase he brought with him, he placed over his hoodie the various pieces of his dad's old armor, the scratches from numerous battles still etched into the armor. His dad forced him to take the armor, the last of three gifts the broad shouldered giant forced upon his son, given out of deep worry over his son's safety. Jaune held back the feeling of crying as he remembered the tears that fell down his burly father's face as he told his son to be extremely careful, and to return to the farm should he ever find himself too out of depth. Smiling, he reached in to find the left gauntlet before halting, a frown appearing on his face.

He slapped his forehead, remembering why he left the gauntlet back home. Looking to the other desk that sat beside his bed he came face to face with his grandfather's gift. He grimaced slightly as he picked the electronic device up, its slight weight making him worry about his ability to use his shield. He looked at the slightly dinged up, but otherwise sleek white design of the rectangular device. Two black straps were connected under the device, to keep in place on his arm. Flipping open the top, he looked at the ancient black screen that met him. No touch interface or even any holographic interface, the screen stood as a testament to just how far technology came in the past dozen or so years.

Jaune sighed, and looked at the Ceiling. "Sorry Grandad, but I'll continue to say a regular old scroll would have done the job better, no matter what you say. Hunter's haven't used COMP's for ten years?"

The young man slipped the large device on, its sleek metal surface covering his left forearm. It took him a bit to get the straps tight enough that he could move the arm around while not having to worry about it slipping on and off. He pulled the thick black cable around and up his back, adjusting the headset so that its strange goggle hung slightly above his right eye. He turned the device on as he left the room, grabbing Crocea Mors on the way out. As the door closed he shifted the strap holding the shielth to his left hip, so that he could bring his shield out quicker. The huntsman to be sighed as he walked down the stairs.

Bright yellow lights lit the lobby of the hotel and he watched some young bright orange haired woman converse nonstop with a tired looking man, who nodded along as the words per second coming from her mouth increased exponentially. Jaune shot the green garbed youth an empathetic glance before turning towards the entrance. He adjusted the COMP on his arm, tightening the straps so the device wouldn't fall and break on the ground. Leaving the hotel, he began walking down the sidewalk, hoping that some fresh air might do him some good before he tried in vain to return to that odd dream.

He fiddled around with the COMP, grumbling as he navigated the dated looking graphics of the ancient system. Oddly enough, the system itself worked quickly to fulfill whatever requests he, as the user, made of the system, figuring that the alleged upgraded hardware allowed for the device to run quicker. He examined each of the various apps on the device, hoping to get some gauge on what he could use as a huntsman. His eyes wandered the screen as he selected the "Party" app, something he figured monitored the status of a group of huntsmen and huntresses. Twelve small rectangles appeared before him, with four at the top and eight underneath it. A small bar split the top four from the rest with the numbers "O/8" printed in the middle. He noticed his first name and picture written in the top left slot, above the other eight. His slot displayed three bars for him to see. Two of the bars appeared full, one that went from red to yellow and a blue one. A black, empty bar stood between the two, and he wondered briefly what the black bar represented. The goggle, which he manually lowered over his eye after he turned the device on, displayed a similar, though transparent image in the top right corner of the goggle. It displayed four rectangular bars, the first of which contained an image of his face, with the same three bars at the bottom. Sighing, he closed the application and the display above his eye became completely transparent and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

 _That green haired jerk lied to me! Huntsmen and huntresses move in groups up to twelve not four!_ He looked up before Humphing. _Or...maybe my COMP has more spaces for emergencies... the HUD only showed four boxes after all._

After returning to the main menu, Jaune continued to explore the device, laughing when he discovered the device's map feature. At the very least, he didn't have to worry about getting lost on campus. After flipping the goggle back above his eye, he continued walking forward, getting further and further confused as he discovered the oddities of the device. Opening the party menu once again he stepped to the corner of a building, stopping when the crosswalk sign displayed a red hand. However when the sign cleared him for crossing he stood perfectly still, staring quizzically at the device. Before, he figured the device simply had the odd eccentricity or two such as the inventory being able to detect his armor and weapon, or how the screen flickered to pure black screen with white text running down occasionally. However he stood transfixed as the icon on the screen expanded and closed, indicating the hovering selection bracket just beneath it.

Jaune blinked.

Jaune blinked again.

He rubbed his eyes and stared confusedly at the screen. Mouthing a curse he closed the device for a few moments and opened it once again. The icon still blinked before him. Taking a deep breath he reset the entire device and waited as the ancient piece of scrap booted back up. The party icon flashed before his eyes, and he selected it, causing the sub-menu to be brought up. Moving the bracket to the right with the miniature keyboard built into the device he once again came across the same app, the one to the immediate right of the icon labeled "Status", which he stared at previously, causing him to gape in disbelief.

"What the hell is this?" Jaune asked nobody in particular. "What... What the _hell_ is this?"

The app displayed the title "Summon" just above a silhouette of a cartoon monster. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jaune began to walk back towards the hotel room, figuring that the app would disappear after a few hours of sleep. Sighing to himself, he shook his head as he attempted to close the device only to accidentally press the enter key. Blanching he watched as the screen once again displayed the slots from the party app, only this time, the slot with his name appeared like a pressed button and whenever he pressed enter while that slot seemed to be selected, an error sound buzzed in his ear. Using the arrow keys, he highlighted one of the empty slots on the top row before pressing enter. The highlighter automatically moved to the bottom half, selecting the leftmost box on the first row just underneath the bar. He blinked as he leaned against a wall, fooling around with the arrow and enter keys.

His investigation didn't last long, as a woman's scream escaped from the alleyway across the street. Shuddering momentarily, Jaune drew his sword and ran towards the alleyway, stumbling as he faced down the darkened space between the various brick buildings that made up the city of Vale. He walked carefully into the alleyway, noting a combination of the stench of burning wood alongside... sugar? Jaune paused as he sniffed the air once more, contorting his face in confusion at the presence of such a sweet scent.

"No!" he heard a feminine voice scream from down the alley, and he could make out a dark hunched over shape in the distance, just beyond a shadow covered dumpster. The figure's back moved up in down with breath and he could hear the sounds of trash and refuse being displaced as the feminine voice continued to scream out. Sprinting as fast as he could, Jaune rounded the dumpster and took a defensive stance as the figure turned to him.

A pit formed in Jaune's stomach as he stared at the figure before him, taking in its inhuman appearance. The beings bean shaped face, topped with a dark mop of hair, tilted in amusement at his bewilderment. The being wore no close, displaying his dark, purple, distended belly for all the world to behold. The thing smiled a wicked grin as it began to laugh, the charms attached to the sides of its head shaking with his mirth as he laughed at Jaune's confusion. Jaune gagged as the smoky stench further wafted into his nostrils, as the sweet scent from before faded to this creature's absolute reek.

"Oh! Oh this is rich," He said, his amused, high-pitched voice echoing in Jaune's ears. "It seems this, heh-heh, human heard your cries! Aw the poor boy must've though he were rescuing some poor big-tittied broad being assaulted. Or... maybe he was hopin' for some action."

Jaune looked briefly to his right at a pile of scattered trash to see an absolutely diminutive red-haired woman, barely larger than his hand, attempting in vain to fly off the ground only to continue to fall due to one of her butterfly-like wings being bent near the middle. She looked up at Jaune with glowing red eyes, her face scrunched in pain. Looking back at the purple monster, Jaune knew instinctively that the woman wasn't exactly a human, and felt slight apprehension looking at her. Scrunching his face in grim determination, he paced slightly to the right, keeping his eyes on the creature before him, and placed himself between the creature and the woman.

The goggle buzzed and fell over his right eye, and displayed the four slots from earlier fully sized for a small moment, before minimizing and placing them in the upper right corner. As the slots minimized, two gray rotating circles appeared over the creature, each composed of two half circles separated by a thin margin at two points. He hummed in confusion, and in the back of his mind asked himself how the device knew when to lower the goggle. Shaking his head, he mentally slapped himself as he told himself that the device must register the tensing of muscles or some other bodily reaction to a threat. He then turned his complete attention to the purple creature before him, who began to shake slightly as Jaune stared at him.

"Hah! Ah-hah-hah-haaa!" The creature laughed, keeling over. "Oh... oh this is absolutely hysterical. If _she_ can't fend me off, what hope do you have blondie? And turning your back on a demon? Wow... you are some next level dumbass, boy." He stopped laughing, and looked at Jaune with his glowing green eyes. He gave the boy an absolutely murderous grin. "Alright, fresh meat. You want a go at this?"

Jaune's eyes went wide as the creature stumbled at him drunkenly at an inhuman speed, the circles displayed around its body changing colors. He put up his shield just as he slashed at him with his claw like fingernails, barely avoiding said claws tearing through his neck. Jaune stumbled backwards from the force of the blow straight into the wall, clenching his left eye shut in reaction to his arm absorbing the shock of the blow. He only barely registered the first bar underneath his image shrinking by a small increment. Gritting his teeth, he tried spreading his legs as he neared the wall, barely avoiding the small woman getting crushed under his shoes. Looking down between his feet she stared up at him in confused shock, and he immediately shot his eyes up towards the creature, who stumbled back with a frown on his face.

Jaune stepped forward carefully, before lunging at the creature and slashing at the creature's torso. His blade cut his skin, and the creature grunted and shook his head. He grinned darkly and attacked before Jaune could block, slashing down his head. Jaune spun around from the attack and steadied himself, only to be hit in his chest. He stumbled backwards from the force, but grinned, his father's armor blocking the brunt of the damage. The top bar under his portrait had shrunk to about only three fourth's its original length, and Jaune grimaced, realizing exactly what the bar represented. He glared at the creature, ignoring the now burning question in the back of his mind.

The Creature laughed, and grabbed Jaune by the side of his head and bit down on his left shoulder. The circles around the creature changed once again, and Jaune grit his teeth, feeling his blood rush into the creature's mouth. Jaune kicked him off, and the creature wiped the leftover blood from his mouth as the wound on his chest began to fade. The circles once again changed to the dull gray they appeared as near the start of the fight. Growling Jaune lunged once more, slashing in a wide downward arc to force the creature to duck underneath it, before bashing the creatures face in with his shield. Snorting Jaune stabbed the creature and pushed the creature back from the blow. After kicking him off his blade, Jaune backed up slightly, his shield held perpendicular to the ground in front of him, despite knowing that such a defensive stance left much to be desired. The Creature charged at him with reckless abandon, slamming into the shield and pushing him back. Jaune pushed his shield with both arms towards his left, causing the purple creature to slam into the wall, stumbling in a daze afterward.

Jaune's eyes widened and he took a risk, charging at the creature as he tried to steady himself. He threw his entire body into the swing, and his blade met the creature straight in the face. Crocea Mors slashed straight through without slowing, and the creature stepped back as more black liquid shot from his's face. The creature screamed and leveled a glare at Jaune, who attempted to bash him with his shield only to miss and stumble into a trashcan. Turning around his eyes widened as the creature came down upon him and slashed at his stomach, covered only by his black bunny-logo hoodie.

Jaune screamed as a large amount of blood splattered against the wall next to him as he felt the claws tear through his stomach like tissue paper. He continued screaming as the creatures slashed again, a wild grin on his face. He groaned in pain as the taste of salt and copper filled his mouth, arching his neck up before his body slightly relaxed. He watched as the creature smiled sadistically at his writhing form. As Jaune's movements began to lessen, indicating his coming fate, the creature turned away and stalked over towards the red haired woman. He chuckled darkly, filling the entire alleyway with the demented vocalizations.

Jaune smirked.

The creature quickly faced Jaune when he heard him dash at him, only managing to gag in shock as Crocea Mors slashed his neck, causing him to gurgle out a muffled, angry cry as he stumbled backwards, still alive. Riding off the adrenaline high he twisted his body, sending a blast of pain straight up his spine, before stabbing his blade into the barely recovering creature. The Creature stared in horror as the blade pierced straight through his protruding belly, eyes wide in shock over his defeat. The creature let out a pained gurgle as it faded into nothingness, an angry expression plastered on his face.

Jaune limply stood with his back to the red-haired woman. He felt blood trickle down both his jeans and his chin as he stared at the wall behind where the purple creature died. His arms went limp as he dropped Crocea Mors, the sword clanging against the concrete. Opening his right eye, the slots from earlier greeted him, with the red bar underneath his portrait only a sliver above being exactly like the black bar below it. He chuckled darkly as he stumbled forward, sliding down the wall before facing the red haired woman who had managed to somehow stabilize her broken wing through the use of a small shred of newspaper. The goggle displayed two rotating red circles over the small woman's form, flashed once every couple of seconds. She stared at him with what appeared to be a combination of disbelief, humor, and possibly a smidgen of relief. Sniffing the air, he realized that the burning scent from the creature had faded leaving only the slight sweet scent from before. Jaune chuckled as he put two and two together. He mentally slapped himself for being a fool, and missing that detail earlier.

"Hey... are... are you alright?" He asked the woman dazedly. His head fell as she said her reply, his fading senses failing him as he began to feel tired. Looking up, he watched as the diminutive, hand-sized woman flew over to him in a disorderly, and pained, fashion. She landed on his chest-plate, and met his eyes with her own ruby red ones. He observed her features as she stared at him, taking note of the supernatural glowing that emanated from her eyes. She stared at him for a good minute before looking down at his midsection. She looked back at him in scrutiny and sighed. She closed her eyes in concentration and smiled.

 _"DIA!"_ She shouted, placing her glowing gloved hand on his bleeding midsection. He felt a warm sensation flow through his veins, muscles, organs and bones and relief surged through is body as the pain from the wound began to lessen. She shouted the phrase again and the pain soon disappeared to the warm feeling that filled his body. Looking down he blinked in shock as only a few bloodstains and a ripped hoodie remained as proof of his wounds. His stomach showed no scars and the blood staining his skin had disappeared. He stood up with no more effort than he would give if he had been sitting for half a minute. He caught the falling woman as she tumbled off his now vertical armor. Looking down, he blinked at her pouting face.

"Hey!" She shouted as she looked up at him, an annoyed expression on her face. "Warn me before you do something like that!" She pouted as she flew up, taking a seat on his shoulder, before letting out an almost inaudible gasp.

"Did," Jaune began in amazement as he felt his stomach. His smooth, slightly hairy skin felt odd next to the ripped cotton that made up his hoodie. "Did you... heal my wounds?"

"Your welcome!" She said cheerily, standing up fully and putting her hands on her hips. Giving him a proud grin, the small red headed woman looked the picture of pride for a being that seemed to be no taller than ten centimeters. She waited for a few seconds as Jaune regained his bearings.

"Thank-thank you!" Jaune said earnestly, a wide grin on his face. "I thought I was going to die before I even got to Beacon." He gave her a thankful bow, before stepping around her towards his dropped sword. He picked the blade up gently and smiled, knowing that he managed to actually, though barely, win his first fight. He then blinked as he realized that he killed for the first time as well, and he began to feel somewhat faint. The red haired woman broke him out of his stupor when she spoke up once again.

"Well," She said, patting his shoulder. "It wouldn't do well for my new master to die on me before our journey begins!"

Jaune blinked, and backed up slightly, keeping a false smile up. He had a bad gut feeling, honed and developed from years of living with the antics and whimsies of the female members of the Arc Family, that the next few minutes would drive him absolutely, inadvertently insane. He gave her a lopsided grin. "...Master?"

She smiled toothily, raising her gloved arms high into the air. "Yeah! I mean, I do owe you for killing that Preta! I mean... he wasn't that strong... or fast... and he was only slightly scary." Jaune winced at the statement, and felt any sense of confidence die from that statement. The woman noticed and waved her hands in front of herself. "But I-I mean he still managed to de-wing me! He was gonna **eat** me, the creep!" She scratched the back of her head at that, and looked to the side, scrunching her mouth in contemplation. "And... well... I guess I thought I'd repay you by being your first demon."

Jaune's eyes widened in shock. "D-d-demon? D-did you say demon? B-b-but those don't exist! They're not real!"

She puffed her cheeks out. "Well, clearly we are. Maybe the problem isn't us but _you_. Maybe demons don't exist on this world. Well... I guess that'd be 'didn't' now." She mumbled to herself for a few seconds, putting her finger on lips in a show of contemplation. "Maybe you should ask around. You'll likely see a lot more than just us after a while. Ooh! I hope something big is going down! That'd be an awesome adventure!"

"Oh boy," Jaune said as he curled up against the wall, pulling at chunks of his hair. "Demons... demons... This... this isn't good... This isn't good in the slightest. How is this happening? Why is this happening? We already have the grimm at our doors, why this? Why now?"

The red-headed woman laughed slightly and patted the side of his head. "Hey! Don't worry! You have me to help you! Demons might try to kill you, but with me by your side, you'll conquer every one! You'll be a bona-fide demon scouting, sword swinging, demon fighting badass in no time! I can just see it! I have an eye for these things you know!"

Jaune looked up with wide eyes and came to a realization. "Wait a minute, 'by my side'... wait... does that have something to do with the whole 'master' thing?"

"Yeah," she said while looking upwards, her hands behind her waist in a vain attempt to appear the picture of innocence. "I am now your demon." She gave him a smug, self-satisfying grin, and giggled like a little schoolgirl. "You saved my life mister. From now until you die old and gray, I will serve you loyally mister... um... mister..."

"Jaune Arc... that-that isn't t-"

"I'm gonna call you Jauney!" She shouted, interrupting him. Jaune grimaced at the nickname, knowing full well the direction the conversation was heading. "Or maybe Jaunster? Jo-Jaune? J.A? Jaune Darc? Long Jaune Silver?" Sighing as Pixie continued to spout random nicknames, possibly in the hopes of finding one that fit him the best. Eventually she gargled and started gesturing angrily, forcing Jaune to interject.

"Isn't that a bit steep price for you to pay?" Jaune asked, not liking the direction the conversation seemed to be moving towards and more than half annoyed at the numerous nicknames. "I mean, you did heal me after all, I'd say that's a fair trade. I'm not the kinda guy who demands girls' freedom."

She giggled, stopping mid-tantrum. "Gee. You're really nice Jauney! You should be careful who you show kindness to, though. They might not appreciate it like I do." She shook her head before posing proudly. "Healing is just one of the many services that I, the great Pixie, provides! Such a trivial task is asking almost nothing of me! No Jauney! Thus it wouldn't be a fair trade in the slightest! Plus... you said you were going to that huntsman school thingy. And I uh... Aww! I can't hide it anymore!" Pixie shouted suddenly, tilting her head back despondently

Jaune gulped as she began to sob, he began to lightly ruffle her hair with his left-index finger. He honestly had little clue how to deal with the crying Pixie. Jaune knew dozens of ways to help people crying or showing sorrow, but no ways to help a demon do so. His father always told him a hero helped those in need, or who expressed great sorrow, and he knew in his heard he needed to help somehow. His dad taught him many ways to soothe a broken or saddened heart, yet all those lessons applied to humans and faunus, and he never went over how to soothe a demon's sorrow. Mostly because, at the time, no one though demons actually existed on Remnant. Sure they used the term to describe truly awful people or actions but actual physical demons? Never. Jaune never, over the seventeen short years of his life ever contemplated the possible existence of demons.

"I just wanna go on an adventure!" She wailed as she desperately tugged on Jaune's hood, causing him to look at her in slight shock. "This world's soooo cooooool! You guys have robots and scythe-snipers and red-headed, gentlemen crooks and airships and television and fantasy schools and-and from everything I've overheard, you huntsman people have _the best_ and most _awesome_ adventures! EVER!" She screamed before putting on a saccharine begging face, complete with puppy-eyes and a trembling lower lip. "So puh-lease ta-ake me with you! I promise to be good! I'll do whatever you tell me to do! Please! Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

Jaune groaned for what he knew wouldn't be the last time and pushed her back by his index finger, interrupting her. "Fine. Alright. You can come with me." He held her shoulder down with his right index finger as she began to jump up and down on his shoulder. She looked up at him with curious eyes. "But I doubt people would be all that accepting of a mythical creature. And I have no idea exactly where I'd hide you.

"Your hoodie looks comfortable," Pixie stated with a sincere smile.

Jaune nodded his head a bit. "Well I mean, yeah. They wouldn't have given it out as a prize if- Never mind that! That's not the point. Even if you hang in my pocket or hood or something, someone's bound to either hear or see you eventually."

Pixie gave him a rather blank stare. "Why don't you just store me in that Demon Summoning device on your arm?"

"The COMP?" Jaune said holding up his grandfather's gift for her to see. "I know it's old, but it's not _that_ old!"

At that, pixie began to giggle, only to stop, with a somewhat shocked look on her face. "Wait, wait... oh... oh! You don't even know what's inside that machine on your arm do you?" Pixie approached and opened the device. She scratched her head for a second before pressing the top right button, causing the System to activate. She began pressing buttons as she stared at the screen, and Jaune watched as several windows appeared briefly on the screen, each displaying falling white text before disappearing. He only caught a few of the words, but that only managed to confuse him further.

"Oh! Got i-" she began before disappearing in a blast of blue light. A buzzing sound, similar to an electric box, filled the small area in which Jaune stood. He stared at the space where the diminutive fairy disappeared, blinking as he took in the pure absurdity of the situation which occurred before him. Rubbing his head he took a look at his COMP as the goggle retracted above his eye. Opening the party sub-menu he noticed that one of the eight slots underneath the first row of four no longer displayed nothing. The bar also read "1/8" in the middle instead of "0/8".

 _Is it... the number of demons?_

Pixie's face appeared in the slot just below the slot with his face in it, along with two bars. The lower bar appeared near empty with a tiny dot of blue. Above it lay a bar similar in color to the top bar in Jaune's slot. Only a small sliver of red separated the bar from emptiness, contrasting with the near full bar on Jaune's slot. Jaune clenched his teeth in horrific realization of just how close the small fairy came to death. Jaune pressed the right arrow key on the keyboard, once again bringing up the "Summon" Icon. Pressing the enter key on the keyboard, the COMP highlighted the second slot on the top row. Swallowing he pressed the enter key a second time, the device highlighting the leftmost slot of the row just beneath the bar, the one with Pixie's face on it.

 _Nothing Ventured..._ He thought as hey pressed the enter key a third time.

He backed up as a small hexagram appeared underneath him, with strange letters written on the arms and in the circle surrounding it. Wind whipped briefly as a second circle appeared in front of him, and a flash of light illuminated the alleyway. When Jaune blinked, in front of him appeared Pixie, still hovering slightly awkwardly from the broken wing. Jaune mouthed several curses as he approached the fairy, who responded with nothing but a smile.

"Yeah! You figured it out Jauney!" She said cheerily, as she flew awkwardly behind him and took a seat in his hoodie. Jaune flinched as he felt a tickling sensation on the back of his neck. "Now you're officially a bona-fide demon summoner!"

Jaune hummed and turned about himself. "Y-yeah... though I think this COMP is meant to hold more than just you."

He felt his hood tug slightly and he turned around only to mentally chastise himself. "Hmm... yeah. I figured as much. I guess I'll have to teach you how to recruit demons... but-" He heard a loud yawn, far louder than what he felt the small fairy could produce. "Ahm kinda tired Jauney... I think we should go back home."

Jaune almost spoke up but stopped himself as he heard light snoring. Sighing to himself he began to walk towards the exit only to hear a slight jingle as he stepped forward. Looking down, Jaune's eyes widened as he saw what appeared to be a few of gold coins, a crossed "h" embedded on the front of each, next to a small brown pouch. Biting his lower lip and carefully crouching he touched the coins, determining they were real. Jaune opened his mouth to ask his fairy partner a question only for her to interrupt him.

"Looks like that Preta dropped some Macca, Demon Currency. You-" Pixie chimed in as she groggily leaned over his right shoulder, before yawning wildly. "You should defigin-definitely take it with you."

Jaune grimaced as he watched Pixie leave his shoulder, crawling back into his hoodie. "Isn't this robbing the dead?" He might have accepted a demonic partner, but looting the fallen seemed fairly shady to him.

"He tried to kill us," Pixie lazily chimed in from her hoodie bed. "Nearly did too, though I think you got the worst of that. Besides, if you want more demons to fight by your side, you're gonna want- no- **need** to pay them for it. They won't accept any of your- your uh... whatever you guys use for currency."

Shrugging, she snuggled a bit in his hoodie and began to snore, in a much lighter manner than previously. Pocketing the small bag of demon currency, Jaune left the dark confines of the alleyway, making his way towards the room to pick up the remains of his belongings. He knew well enough he wouldn't get anymore sleep before heading off to Beacon, and he decided, that playing around with the COMP near the airship station beat tumbling about in a bed for an hour or two.

Looking at his COMP he groaned, seeing that he still needed to wait a good seven hours before the airship took him to Beacon. He lowered his arm as he continued down the sidewalk towards the hotel. It didn't take him long to arrive at the hotel, and a different receptionist to the one he checked in with gave him a friendly wave which he returned. He walked straight through the lobby, avoiding the gaze of several of the other soon-to-be students too excited to sleep, and up the stairs to his floor.

Entering his room, Jaune grabbed the remainder of his things, picking up the suitcase and backpack with ease, adjusting the latter so as to not crush his companion. Once again entering the lobby, he earned several odd stares from the other students who saw him enter earlier. Walking over to the receptionist, he handed the raccoon faunus-who's trait made it difficult for Jaune to tell if the poor man needed sleep or not-the card-key to his hotel room. Wordlessly, he signed the papers the receptionist placed in front of him before walking out of hotel with a subdued "Thanks for the room."

Jaune felt his partner adjust her position in his hood, attempting to find some new sleeping position. Smiling to himself, Jaune breathed in the night air and walked towards the airship docks. His smile dropped as several sounds came to him from a nearby alleyway, and he dropped both of his bags. Grasping the handle of his blade, he sighed and walked into the alley, hoping that whatever laid ahead wouldn't kill him. The goggle fell over his eye as a shadow approached him slowly.

 _This is going to be my life now, isn't it?_

* * *

 **AN: Cranked this out over a near sleepless week after I had a weird idea involving a fusion crossover with the Shin Megami Tensei series. I'm going to be borrowing details here and there from the mainline series (Which does include Strange Journey), to help craft this story.**

A warning though, the next couple of chapters are going to deal with a couple of the "Stations of the Canon", though they'll likely be... different. After that though the plot train's likely to take another route.

As always, please leave a review if you feel compelled


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